News

Famous Italian Job Minis on show

01May 2018

FAMOUS ‘ITALIAN JOB’ MINIS TO JOIN HUNDREDS OF CARS ON SHOW AT STRATFORD FESTIVAL OF MOTORING THIS WEEKEND

Three famous ‘Italian Job’ Minis will be among hundreds of cars that roar into town for this weekend’s Stratford Festival of Motoring on Sunday, May 6th and Bank Holiday Monday, May 7th.
The replicas - which have appeared on TV alongside big names including David Hasselhoff and Guy Martin - are just one reminder visitors will see of iconic 1969 film The Italian Job, which will be the theme of one of the streets in Stratford town centre during the festival.

The Minis are the pride and joy of mechanic Greg Jenkins, from Hereford, who bought them to use them as wedding cars. “I studied the film and watched it a couple of hundred times to make them as authentic as possible. To set them aside from a normal Mini, they’ve got roll cages like the ones in the film, as well as bonnet stripes and we’ve put some imitation gold bars on the back parcel shelf.” Greg’s Minis have featured on TV several times. The red one is currently on TV on an ad for Farmfoods with David Hasselhoff.”

One of several free-festivals organised by the award-winning events team at Stratforward Business Improvement District (BID), the event will see participants take runs in the surrounding countryside - one with a treasure hunt and another encouraging them to rekindle their old-school navigation skills - before returning to the town’s historic streets to park up.

The festival is also giving people the chance to star in Stratford’s own version of popular TV show Carpool Karaoke in a competition organised in conjunction with festival sponsor Listers, a long-running supporter of the event. Participants in the challenge will be able to record their own rendition of classic Italian tune ‘That’s Amore’ - in keeping with the Italian Job theme - on their mobile device inside one of Listers’ cars on display at the festival. They just need to post their karaoke video on social media, tagging Listers, the Stratford Festival of Motoring, and festival organiser Stratforward to be in with the chance of winning the use of a brand new car for a whole weekend.

Vehicles on display at the festival will include fast cars; open-top vehicles; ‘My Dad Had One of Those’ display; luxury cars; quirky vehicles like campers, pickups and vans; and displays from automotive clubs including Auto Adrenalin and Aston Martin. There will also be commercial car displays from Listers, Guy Salmon, Nissan Westway, DV8 Works, the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust, Dallas Burston Polo Club and the British Motor Museum.

A festival trophy presentation will take place on Monday at 2 pm, including a prize for the winner of the treasure hunt, a Stratforward-sponsored award chosen by patron Quentin Willson, a Mayor’s award for her favourite vehicle and an award chosen by festival sponsor Listers.

There’s plenty on offer for families, including a special family area at Rother Market including hands-on demonstrations, go-karts, bouncy castle, emergency vehicles and more; live music at Bell Court and on Bridge Street; and a Wacky Races workshop with community arts organisation Escape Arts.

The Vintage Mobile Cinema will be showing two film montages of vintage footage celebrating the Mini, Stratford and Shakespeare. Stratford Picturehouse is showing Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at noon on Saturday followed by a Motoring Reel Big Quiz on Monday evening while Everyman Cinema is showing The Italian Job on Sunday at 5pm.

A Stratford Specsavers Photography Competition will give people the chance to win great prizes by sharing their festival photos using #SpecsaversSUA. Automotive artist Reverend Adam Gompertz will be sketching around town and Castle Fine Art will be displaying four motor-themed original paintings by contemporary artist Robert Oxley. There will also be an automotive art exhibition at Whitewall gallery.

Local eateries are getting into the festival spirit, with The Townhouse offering special Italian cured boards and Prosecco, and The One Elm an outdoor Peroni Bar and two-for-one on Aperol Spritz.

Stratforward Events Manager Ruth Wood said: “The Festival of Motoring always brings tens of thousands of people to Stratford to check out some of the great cars we have on show and enjoy the spectacle of hundreds of vehicles parked up on Stratford’s historic streets.

“It’s a great event that brings families into Stratford for free Bank Holiday fun and allows us to show off all the award-winning restaurants, bars, shops, spectacular attractions and businesses Stratford has to offer. It is these businesses that fund the festival so please support them.”

NOTES

1. PLEASE FIND ATTACHED IMAGES FOR MEDIA USE. Please note, the minis in image 1 are not the minis owned by Greg Jenkins. Image 2 caption (L-R): Stratforward BID Director Joe Baconnet; Adriana Geary, Shakespeare Hospice corporate and community fundraiser; and Dejorn Goldsmith, Listers Honda sales executive.
2. MEDIA ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND THE STRATFORD FESTIVAL OF MOTORING ON SUNDAY OR MONDAY. PLEASE CALL STRATFORWARD’s EVENTS TEAM ON 01789 299011 or email info@stratforward.co.uk TO ARRANGE
3. Festival hours are 10 am to 5 pm on Sunday and 10 am to 4 pm on Monday. Cars will be arriving into town from 9 am to 12 noon.
4. This will be the sixth Stratford Festival of Motoring and is one of a number of popular festivals organised by Stratforward’s award-winning events team each year. Others include the Stratford River Festival in July and Stratford Town Centre Food Festival in September.
5. Stratforward is Stratford’s Business Improvement District (BID) which represents nearly 450 shops, cafes, pubs, restaurants and businesses in Stratford town centre.
6. Listers is the sponsor of the 2018 Stratford Festival of Motoring. With its 39-year strong history, Listers Group Ltd is one of the UK’s largest family owned automotive businesses and leading retail groups. Listers is a proud partner of 15 premium manufacturers including Audi, BMW, Jaguar, Honda, Land Rover, Lexus, Mercedes, MINI, SEAT, Skoda, Smart, Toyota, Volkswagen, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles and Volvo. The Group now boasts over 50 sites strategically located across the south west, midlands and east of England. For further information, contact Toni Dunk at Listers on 07793 314832or email Toni.Dunk@Listers.co.uk